By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - The United States rescued an airman caught behind enemy lines after Iran shot down his F-15 fighter jet, the U.S. government said early on Sunday, resolving a major crisis for President Donald Trump with the war on Iran in its sixth week.
"Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History," according to a statement from Trump posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.
Trump said the crew member was injured but "he will be just fine."
The airman, who Trump said held the rank of colonel, was the second member of a two-person crew of an F-15 that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defenses. Reuters reported on Friday that the first member of the crew had been recovered, triggering a high-profile search for the remaining airman by both Iran and the United States.
Iranian officials had called on citizens to help locate the remaining American, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28. He has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure.
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A hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that, according to opinion polls, has already struggled to win popular support.
Trump did not provide details on the rescue but said it was the first time in memory that two U.S. pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.
The high-stakes U.S. rescue effort, which involved dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search effort were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace. In a separate incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, the officials said. The degree of any injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear.
Still, Trump was triumphant.
"The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies," he said in his statement.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by William Mallard)
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